How could anyone be so naive!?

[Marc and Olga 0]

Before Olga, there was a seemingly nice girl who ended up NOT being from the USA (as her profile stated) but Nigera, I was cool with it until about the third email when she demanded I send $600 to some clown in Nigeria so she could come to the USA ...no way was I sending money to ANYONE outside the USA (or inside the USA...you freaks (j/k)) without meeting in person first!

After that she started writing about how I must not love her...I never replied and in a week the profile had changed, different name, different place, same pic....

That is my scammer experience...wasn't gonna fall for it!

[Niels Bohr 72]

After that she started writing about how I must not love her...I never replied and in a week the profile had changed, different name, different place, same pic....

That is my scammer experience...wasn't gonna fall for it!

LOL...How can you love someone without meeting? Funny how she responded like that.

[Ban Hammer 13,429]

Before Olga, there was a seemingly nice girl who ended up NOT being from the USA (as her profile stated) but Nigera, I was cool with it until about the third email when she demanded I send $600 to some clown in Nigeria so she could come to the USA ...no way was I sending money to ANYONE outside the USA (or inside the USA...you freaks (j/k)) without meeting in person first!

After that she started writing about how I must not love her...I never replied and in a week the profile had changed, different name, different place, same pic....

That is my scammer experience...wasn't gonna fall for it!

i so love scammers, they are so fun to play with

[Fandango 1,439]

he'd been better off spending that 16k on porn or tarts

jelly or pop?

[Fandango 1,439]

I find these articles very disturbing. My main problem with them is that with everything said, they still do not help ppl distinguish between genuine persons and scammers. I surpose that with names and profiles of known scammers being posted, that definitely helps. However, the description of how some persons got scammed, makes it very possible for innocent persons to be seen as scammers as well.

My fiancee and I met online on yahoo. Not in a chatroom or anything like that. I just had yahoo messenger on. I wasn't even at the computer but while passing, I noticed that I had a message and we've been chatting ever since. We have spent numerous vacations together both here and in St. Vincent where she works, as well as other in other countries here in the Caribbean.

I bought both our engagement and wedding rings through the amazon marketplace from reeds jewelers. Neither amazon, nor reeds ship outside the US. My parents live in Canada, and I was thinking of sending the rings to them so that they could in turn send them to me. Amazon doesn't even have that option!

The only choice I had was to have the rings shipped to her parents in the US.

On Mel's last visit home, I sent her a bank draft from ScotiaBank so that she could buy some stuff for me.

I am doing an online course in Computer Studies through purpletrain.com and I am required to purchase my own textbooks. Only a few days ago, I needed to get buy a textbook (Computer System Architecture (3rd Edition)). This book costs about 114USD purchased new. If purchased used at amazon, I could pay as little as 11.87 for it. However, amazon's sellers do not ship used books outside the US. What else could I do... I had the book shipped to Mel's parents.

From reading the second article, what's to stop anyone from calling me a scammer. I mean, my credit & debit cards are completely legitimate and I have the deductions on my account to prove it. I did purchase the bank draft through my account and I know that there is no way that the legitimacy of this bank draft can me challenged. I have no time to waste trying to alter bank drafts. I actually arrest ppl for a living and process crime scenes.

Yet, armed with the information from this article, I'm sure that persons would easily consider me to be a scammer. After reading this article, I was almost speechless. So from now on, if ever I were to consider sending Mel a bank draft to get me something from the US, we'll both be wondering "what if." And if I want to purchase,with my very own cards, anything from amazon that doesn't ship here to St. Lucia, I also have to think twice.

Boy, it's a crazy world out there!!!

I think you're seriously overthinking things

[Ban Hammer 13,429]

he'd been better off spending that 16k on porn or tarts

jelly or pop?

not the kinda tarts i had in mind

[FutureAmerican 2]

Unfortunately stories like this one only add to the stigma I've encountered when I tell people I met my wife through an internet dating website - although in our case we'd both filled out complete profiles, and had written countless letters/emails/phonecalls etc. It also helped a lot that we both had online journals on livejournal.com with lots of friends listed, and entries dating back a couple of years, which helped us to trust each other.

I'd been burned twice before in online relationships - one who I met through a blogging website (after she'd replied to me in the comments section once), and after a couple of months of chatting, I arranged to take an unpaid summer internship in San Diego over a paid one in another city/state, just to be with her. A month before I flew out, I got breakup email because she was "too busy with studying etc". I still ended up having a great time in San Diego, including a close call with a con man, crazy parties with some ex-military guys etc, but that's another story.

The second one there were severe trust issues on her end, accusing me of things I hadn't done, and then ignoring all attempts at apologies and explanation. Paranoid is an understatement in her case (and I had to cancel a flight from San Diego to Texas to meet her, costing me $400).

Anyhow, meeting my future wife for the first time worked out great, and although I received conflicting advice from friends on whether or not to blow £400 on a weekend to go see her, I figured 3rd time was the charm and there was a LOT more good feeling about this one as we'd been in contact for 8 months by then.

Moral of the story? It shouldn't cost £10K for a visa+travel from Russia...

Edited April 18, 2007 by FutureAmerican

[Sinergy 3]

its sad, its sad to see someone like this. I know ive been lonely before i met my husband, but i would never just send money to ANYONE online. I think he needs to see a professional, hes in need of some serious therapy.

or a tart

[cbd2cai 0]

he'd been better off spending that 16k on porn or tarts

jelly or pop?

That would buy a trailer full of pop tarts!!!

[lisaf 0]

poor guy... that doesn't top the people i saw recently on dateline. here's a link to a story:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8704213/

Nigerian scammers have been around for a long time. How could someone fall for them these days?

When I get one I try to play along just to make them waste time and get their hopes up. It's funny. Here's a site dedicated to it... http://www.ebolamonkeyman.com/

My favourite internet cafe in Asia where I was living was also the Nigerian community's favourite makeshift " bolier room"

The guy next to me one day had no less than 6 yahoo IM windows running, there were kisses and hearts and all kinds of ###### lighting up his screen. He still found the time to stop and ask what country I was from and could he have my number.

[notrepetiteashley 0]

That guy looks so sad and lonely. I hope he doesn't kill himself over this, though. What the hope for love does to people is amazing. Totally shoves reason out the door.

[LaL 418]

Here's a site dedicated to it... http://www.ebolamonkeyman.com/

LOLLOLOLOL i just read through *Anita Cox* LMAO! gonna have to bookmark this!